Return to Lee Da
by Black Raider
Summary: After receiving an urgent message from Mei Ling, Crane journeys back to Lee Da Kung Fu Academy. Accompanied by Shifu, the two of them realize how big of a mess they've put themselves into.
1. Part One

Return to Lee Da

Part One

Shifu and Po walked thru the village, on their way home from grocery shopping. Po carried a basket of vegetables and spices in one arm and a bag of rice under the other, both for their dinner that night. Shifu was talking to Po about the panda's training.

"Dragon Warrior! Master Shifu!"

A small rabbit girl rushed up to them. She held a scroll in her hands and was panting.

"Something wrong?" Po asked.

The girl caught her breath and handed Shifu the scroll in her hands. "Somebody gave me this scroll and said it was for Master Crane. Can you give it to him?"

"Of course." Shifu nodded. The girl bowed and rushed off. Po and Shifu continued their journey to the palace.

"What do you think the scroll's for?" Po asked.

"Who knows?" Shifu replied. "The scroll's for Crane." The two of them got to the Jade Palace and Po got to work on dinner. Shifu waited until the Five had come to eat before giving Crane the scroll. The avian took the rolled up parchment and started reading while Po served the food. However, by the time his food had been passed to him, Crane's expectant smile had turned to extreme worry.

"Something wrong?" Po asked as he sat down. Crane set the scroll down, his eyes full of concern.

"Crane, who did the scroll come from?" Shifu asked. All eyes were on Crane.

"It's from Mei Ling." Crane said. "She says that the academy's in trouble."

"Lee Da?" Mantis said. "But that's one of the best kung fu academies in China! The only thing that can cause trouble for it is a natural disaster."

"Well, Mei Ling says that there's something attacking it." Crane started walking off, leaving his food untouched. "I have to go help."

"Wait." Monkey said. "Let us come with you."

"No!" Crane said hurriedly. "Lee Da is my academy, and I can take care of it myself."

"Will you at least wait until morning to leave?" Shifu said. "You can't fight if you're tired from flying all night." Crane was reluctant, but he agreed. Instead of eating, he went off to his room.

"Poor Crane." Po said. "What do you think is attacking Lee Da?"

"Probably just a bunch of bandits." Viper shrugged. "It'll be a breeze for him."

"I don't think so." Tigress said. "After all, it's so bad that Mei Ling had to send word."

"Some bandits." Mantis muttered.

The next day, Crane stayed behind after everyone else had gone to train. He walked off to his room and packed a bag. He packed a knife, some shurikens and kunai, and a spare pair of pants.

A knock came to his door. "Permission to enter?" Po's voice called.

Crane shook his head. "Come in, Po." The portly panda stepped in with a somewhat goofy smile.

"Hey." He said. "So, you're heading off?"

"Yep." Crane nodded.

"Out to save your academy, help your friends…" Po rocked back and forth on his feet. "Good luck!"

"Po, this isn't going to become a reenactment of our first talk, is it?" Crane asked.

"Nah." Po laughed. He pulled out a package and handed it to his bird friend. "This is food for the journey. You know, cause you never know when you're next meal will be."

Crane smiled and stashed the food in his pack. "Thanks, Po."

"Not a problem." Po shrugged. "I hope you and Mei Ling can work this out."

"I do, too." Crane said. "When I read her letter, it was like she was in a rush to write it; like something was coming for her."

"You two care for each other?" Po said mischievously.

"We're not in love!" Crane snapped.

"Sorry!" Po said. "Well, good luck. Kick some bad guy butt for us, who have to stay home and let you have all the fun." Po laughed as he walked off. Crane rolled his eyes and chuckled. He slung his pack over his shoulder and placed his hat on his head. Then, he walked outside and took a deep breath, still very concerned for his academy. As he prepared to take off, he heard a voice.

"Crane!"

The avian turned and saw Master Shifu run up to him, a pack slung over his shoulder. "I'm coming with you."

"With all due respect, Master, I can-"

"I know you can do it alone." Shifu interrupted. "But even if you don't want me coming, I'm still following you." Crane sighed and took off, his master running below him. They journeyed towards Lee Da, hoping that they weren't too late. After a few hours, they rested.

"What do you think is attacking the academy?" Crane asked. He was currently pacing back and forth in front of his master.

"It's probably just bandits." Shifu said. "And if it's worse, then it's probably the Wu Sisters or Great Gorilla."

"In that case, we should hurry." Crane said.

"Very well." Shifu said. "It does sound like Mei Ling was urgent." The two journeyed on. After a while, Shifu called Crane down from his flying, telling his avian student that flying would take up too much of his energy. Crane was reluctant, but agreed to walk alongside his master. It took about a day and a half to get there, but the two warriors were surprised at what they saw. The school still looked like it always did; uniform, neat, and strongly structured. There were two differences: nobody was around and some of the trees around the school were destroyed.

"This doesn't look very good." Shifu admitted.

"Well, today is usually the day the master would give us a day off." Crane said hopefully. "And the trees could've broken because the students were using them for training."

"_Now _you decide to remain hopeful?" Shifu said. Crane shrugged. The two of them walked down towards the academy. But they stopped abruptly when they found the bridge to the front gate completely destroyed. It was at least twenty feet to the doors, and the waters below didn't look promising.

Shifu knelt down and studied the edge of the bank. "It looks like the bridge never existed."

Crane stared worriedly at the doors to his old academy. "There aren't even pieces of the bridge there, either." Shifu stared at the waters below them, which were green like swamp water.

"We'd better get over there." He said. Crane nodded and knelt down as Shifu climbed onto his back. The avian flew off, but barely got halfway across the waters before a weighted net came out of nowhere and fell on top of Crane and Shifu. The two masters plummeted into the waters below. They barely had time to react from the net before they went under the cold waters. Crane tried to get free, but failed. Shifu wasted no time in rummaging thru his pack and pulling out a dagger. He sliced thru the ropes until there was a hole big enough for him and Crane to slip thru. Shifu surfaced and coughed, spitting water out of his mouth. He looked around and then dived when he didn't see Crane. He found the avian struggling to swim up and the old master saw that Crane's foot was caught on the net, and the net was tangled in some wood at the bottom of the water. Shifu swam down and freed Crane before the two swam up again.

"What was that?" Crane coughed.

"Not sure." Shifu said. "But we're going to find out." The two of them swam to the school and Crane managed to fly up, open the doors, and help Shifu up. The masters still had their things. But the two of them and their stuff were soaking wet. Shifu and Crane walked into the school cautiously, but it looked like a ghost town. The rooms, training grounds, and courtyards were completely deserted. The two masters stopped at the testing area.

"This doesn't make sense." Shifu said. "Unless they evacuated for some reason, then I don't see how we could've been attacked."

"It couldn't have been one of the students who attacked us." Crane insisted. "They all know me too well, and they should know you anywhere."

"That doesn't explain why we were attacked and almost killed." Shifu protested. Suddenly, his ears perked up. "Somebody's watching us." He whispered. He raised his voice a little. "Stay here, I'm going to check the mess hall." Shifu walked off, leaving Crane alone. The bird master looked over towards the obstacle course near him; the same one he had gone thru to get into the academy in the first place. He smiled as he stared at the bright red flag at the other end. He remembered Mei Ling and her encouragement. Mei Ling wasn't just the only girl in the academy; she was, for a while, Crane's only friend.

A loud noise made Crane jump. He spun around and his eyes widened when he saw Shifu fighting a cloaked figure. Crane quickly jumped in, helping fend off the rogue warrior. But the cloaked person acted fast. They kicked Crane to the ground and then gave Shifu a kick that launched the master into the obstacle course.

"Watch out!" Crane warned. Shifu moved just as a log came towards his head, which he blocked. He moved his foot before another log could crush it. The cloaked figure jumped into the obstacle course and landed on top of one of the spires, snarling at the master. The figure lunged, and Shifu moved fast. The figure had to dodge whatever the course threw at them and attack Shifu at the same time. Shifu had to do the same while dodging the attacker's moves. Crane only watched, not wanting to risk anything. The cloaked figure jumped onto a swinging log while Shifu was busy blocking a log spinning toward him. The figure rode the log until they came to the old man. The figure jumped towards Shifu, kicking him into another spire. The figure moved in for the kill, but Shifu found that he was at the base of the red flag. He pulled it from its case and threw it at the figure's covered face. This distracted them long enough for Shifu to swipe at their legs and pin them to the ground. In the process, the figure's hood had been knocked off.

Shifu found himself staring into Mei Ling's ferocious-looking face.

"Mei Ling!" Crane cried.

The Chinese mountain cat finally got a good look at the people she had been attacking, and she was shocked. Shifu helped her up and the two of them walked over to Crane. Mei Ling kept staring at the bird, like she was trying to decide whether she was dreaming or not.

"Crane?" Mei Ling finally asked. "What are you doing here?"

"You sent us a letter, saying you needed help with something attacking the academy." Crane told her.

Mei Ling slapped her forehead. "Master sent that letter. Ugh, when will he realize that I'm not a child anymore?"

"Mei Ling, what's going on?" Shifu demanded. "The bridge is completely destroyed, you attacked us, and the place is deserted."

Mei Ling looked around. "We shouldn't talk here."

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

"It started about a week ago." Mei Ling said. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed. Shifu and Crane sat across from her.

"Master called us to the courtyard." Mei Ling continued. "He said we had a visitor, so we lined up in the courtyard. We were all hoping it would be Crane; we hadn't seen him in years. But instead of Crane, we had a lady come in. She was this beautiful caracal woman wearing a green silk dress. She had these piercing green eyes that reminded me of a forest." Mei Ling sighed. "Our master approached the woman and demanded to know why she was there. The woman said, 'I ask for only one thing: the greatest warrior here. Give them to me and I will leave in peace.' Our master asked for the reason, but the woman wouldn't say. So the master dismissed her. The caracal said that if we didn't do as she asked, there would be dire consequences. Our master said that if she gave the reason for what she wanted, he would reconsider. Again, the woman refused. So the master told her to leave or we would force her to. The caracal woman pointed to our master and us and said, 'You will regret this!' Then, she stormed off. The next day, at sunset, something big attacked us. Whatever it was kept up the attacks for at least a week, and whenever we tried to fight back, none of us came back without being wounded."

"Where are the others?" Crane asked.

"After the last attack, our master evacuated the place." Mei Ling said. "I managed to hide and stay behind. I will not abandon this place."

"Why not?" Shifu demanded. "You could be killed the next time this thing attacks."

"This is my home!" Mei Ling snapped. Shifu looked at Crane.

"Mei Ling's an orphan." Crane explained. "She lost her home and family to a fire."

"I wandered around for weeks before Master found me." Mei Ling said. "He took me in and gave me a home. I'm not abandoning it now."

"Then we'll help you fight." Crane said.

"Wait a minute." Shifu stopped the two. "We still don't know what we're up against. What exactly _is _this thing we're up against?"

"I'm not too sure." Mei Ling admitted. "It was pretty big and it had some major claws and fangs. When it roared, it sounded like a combination of a bear, a bat, and some sort of cat. It hissed like a lizard."

Shifu's eyebrow rose. "That sounds a little far-fetched."

"Even I have to admit that it does sound crazy." Crane said.

"You don't believe me?" Mei Ling growled. "Wait out in the courtyard at sunset; the beast will come."

"Fine." Shifu said.

"I don't know." Crane said uneasily. "Maybe I'll go alone. Just in case."

"You're crazy." Mei Ling said.

"Don't worry." Shifu said. "We'll be ready to help if you need it."

Mei Ling cast a glance outside. "Best put your plan into action." Everyone looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting.

Crane flew off and stood thirty feet from the gate and waited. Shifu and Mei Ling waited on a balcony behind him, ready to help. Mei Ling's claws were digging into the wood.

"Would you relax?" Shifu said.

"I can't." Mei Ling said. "Just wait until you see the beast."

They waited….and waited…and waited…for hours on end. After a while, the sun set, and it became dark. Crane lit the lanterns around the courtyard. Soon, however, Crane got a little tired. He turned to his master and friend. "Are you sure it comes at sunset?"

"Yes." Mei Ling called.

"Well, why don't we retire?" Crane said. "We'll check again tomorrow night." Mei Ling was reluctant, but agreed. She turned and walked off. Crane started to walk off, but Shifu was frozen in his place.

"What's wrong?" Crane asked.

"I'm not sure." Shifu said. He leaped down from the balcony and landed softly on the ground. "I'll be right back." He walked off towards the gate and opened the doors. Shifu stared out into the darkness. Then, there was the sound of splashing and Shifu jumped back.

"Look out!" he yelled. He and Crane stood side-by-side as something big came thru the gates.

With the lanterns on, Shifu and Crane could finally see what they were up against. The creature that was facing them had the head of a cougar, the body of a bear, bat wings, and a lizard's tail. It was at least twice the size of Po. The creature's piercing green eyes glared at the two warriors before it, and it hissed, like a lizard, as Mei Ling described.

"Ok." Shifu finally said. "This is new."

"Should we fight it?" Crane asked, taking a fighting stance.

The creature answered the question by pouncing towards the bird. The two warriors split up and moved in to attack. But each time they moved in, the creature would swipe its claws and snap its teeth, making them jump back again. Crane tried to dive bomb it, but the creature whipped its tail around and sent Crane hurdling thru a wall. Shifu was distracted and got pinned to the ground by the creature's large paw. The creature leaned down and stared at the red panda, growling deep in its throat. Shifu stared into the creature's sharp green eyes, inwardly a little scared. The creature looked up and saw Mei Ling and Crane coming. The creature glanced at Shifu one more time before running off into the woods.

Shifu sat up and stood, watching the beast disappear. Mei Ling and Crane stood beside him.

"What _was _that?" Crane asked.

"I'm not sure." Shifu said. "But I have a feeling it's connected with that caracal."

A/N: How do you like that? Until the next part.

BTW, Happy Birthday to me!


	2. Part Two

Part Two

"That's what she meant by 'You'll regret this.'" Mei Ling groaned. "She'll send that beast every night unless we give her what she wants."

"So what do we do?" Crane asked. "She wants the best warrior here, and you and I are the only warriors left here."

"Ahem?" Shifu's eyebrow rose.

"I meant from this school." Crane said quickly.

"We could fight it." Mei Ling said. "Maybe even kill it if we have to."

"That might not be the best idea." Shifu intervened. "That caracal might send something worse. Besides, it's not going to be easy to beat this thing."

"Do we have any weapons?" Crane asked.

"We should, yeah." Mei Ling said. "Right now, though, I want to sleep." The boys agreed, and the three of them went off to bed.

The next morning, Mei Ling led the boys to the weapons room. "Even that beast doesn't stand a chance now." The mountain cat chose a spear for her weapon. Crane looked around before picking a sword and then rushing back to his bad to grab his shurikens and kunai. Shifu chose to have his dagger at his waist, a quiver of arrows on his back, and grabbed a bow.

"Are we ready?" Mei Ling asked. The boys nodded.

"Should we practice?" Crane suggested. "We'll have a while until sunset, and I haven't fought with a sword in a long time." The three of them agreed it'd be better to train a little, so they went to the courtyard to practice. Mei Ling and Crane sparred with their weapons, giving each other pointers. Shifu practiced his aim for a while before overlooking the other two's training.

"Stay alert!" he snapped. "Both of you! I can tell from fighting this thing once that it's not going to give you time to bounce back."

"We'll kill that thing before it can bounce back." Mei Ling growled. Crane suddenly stopped, and ended up having Mei Ling's staff whack him in the face.

"Ow!" he yelped. He rubbed his sore beak. "What do you mean, kill it?"

Mei Ling gave him a weird look. "Well, I was thinking of either drowning it in the river or stabbing it thru the heart."

"That seems a little…intense…." Crane said uncomfortably. "Don't you think?"

"Crane, this thing is trying to _kill _us." Mei Ling growled. "If we don't kill it first, there'll be nothing left of us or this school."

"Mei Ling, I always taught my students that you should never kill unless absolutely necessary." Shifu explained. "I've never had any my students kill anyone and I can't remember when I've killed someone."

"How noble." Mei Ling commented. "But this isn't a person, it's a monster. Either we kill it or it kills us."

"Mei Ling, I think you're getting a bit out of hand." Crane said. "What if we went to find this caracal and try talking to her?"

"Because we don't know what she wants with us." Mei Ling protested. "She might try and kill us and take the school for herself."

"Mei Ling, did it ever occur to you that if we did kill this beast, something worse would come and most likely kill us?" Shifu demanded.

Mei Ling huffed. "Are you two going to help me or not?"

"We will help you." Crane promised. "But why do we have to kill this thing?"

"I just answered that!" Mei Ling nearly shouted. "Whose side are you on?"

"The side that I know is right!" Crane snapped. "I have never killed anyone or anything in my life, and I don't plan on starting now."

"Crane, this thing is trying to take our academy, our home!" Mei Ling yelled. "That caracal woman will pay. Now are you with me or not?" Crane and Shifu only stared at the mountain cat.

"Mei Ling, you've changed." Crane muttered.

"Well, if you two won't help me, then I'll kill that thing myself." Mei Ling growled as she stormed off. "And if she sends more, I'll crush them." Mei Ling stalked off.

Shifu sighed. "That girl's been hurt."

"Well, she does feel like her home is being taken from her." Crane admitted. "Maybe someone should talk to her." There was a pause. Crane glanced at Shifu. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to talk to her?" Crane gestured towards the direction Mei Ling went.

"She's your friend." Shifu protested. "You've known her longer."

"But what if she yells at me?" Crane asked. "I'm not good with people who are angry at me. And to add insult to injury, she has claws; I'd prefer to have my feathers _on _my body."

"She's still your friend." Shifu insisted. "If she'll listen to anyone, it'll be you." Crane looked towards Mei Ling's room, sighed, and flew off. He found Mei Ling in her room, meditating on her bed. Crane carefully stepped inside.

"Can I help you?" Mei Ling snapped.

Crane stopped briefly before walking up beside his mountain cat friend. "You okay?"

"Of course not." Mei Ling growled. "Why can't you realize that the only way to beat this thing is to kill it?"

"It's not the only way." Crane protested. "What if we tried to find that caracal? We could talk to her and maybe-"

"Why'd you leave?" Mei Ling interrupted.

Crane stopped and stared. "What?"

"Why did you leave Lee Da?" Mei Ling repeated. "You were a great warrior. Has going to the Jade Palace made you weak?"

"I'm not weak." Crane snapped.

"You always find the good in everybody or everything unless it was Tai Lung or a bandit you've known for a while." Mei Ling told him. "You never think that maybe you're wrong until you make a wrong move." Mei Ling stared Crane in the eyes. "When will you realize that talking won't win your battles?"

"It has before." Crane said. "And I'm sure it will now. You just have to trust me."

"How can you ask me to trust you?" Mei Ling demanded. "Do you not see that everyone is gone except for me? I stayed to protect my home." Mei Ling turned and faced the wall. "Everyone else is a coward except for me."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Crane demanded. "I'd be surprised if you did. After all, Shifu and I came here to help."

"If you won't help me kill this thing, then you should never have come." Mei Ling grumbled.

Crane sighed. "Mei Ling, I promise to do everything in my power to help you. But I can't do that if we keep fighting." Crane placed a comforting wing on his friend's shoulder. "Can we try and work together on this? Or at least stop fighting long enough to fight this beast?"

Mei Ling turned to Crane and smiled. "Deal." She took the avian's wing in her paw and they shook on it.

They jumped at Shifu's shout.

The two exchanged worried glances before sprinting to the window. They were shocked, and inwardly a little horrified, to see the caracal's beast back, swiping at Shifu who was running and shooting at the same time, trying to avoid the beast's claws and teeth.

"That's not possible." Mei Ling cried. "It only comes at sunset!"

"We have to help him!" Crane insisted. He flew out the window and Mei Ling followed, scaling the wall with her claws. The two of them reached the courtyard just as the beast swung its tail around and have it slam into Shifu. The old master went flying and slammed into Mei Ling, who had been running full speed toward the beast. The two went tumbling head over heels and hit a wall. The beast charged for the two, but Crane flew past the beast, swiping at its face. That instantly resulted in the beast going for the bird. The beast snapped at the avian master, only to miss every time. Shifu and Mei Ling untangled themselves from each other and rushed in to help him. Shifu reached for an arrow, but muttered a curse under his breath.

"Out of arrows." He informed.

"Then we'll take it down the old fashioned way." Mei Ling smirked. She drew her claws and stabbed them into the beast's legs. The beast snarled and snapped its jaws at the cat. Shifu shrugged and charged in, using his bow for a staff. The beast snarled and swung its paw around, slamming Mei Ling thru a wall. It whipped its tail into Crane, sending the avian crashing to the ground. Then, it turned to Shifu, its cat eyes narrowed. Shifu looked behind him and, seeing the doors to the academy to his back, got an idea. He ran towards the gates, the beast right behind him. Shifu just managed to touch the doors before everything went wrong.

The beast leaped towards the old master, crashing into him and resulting in the two of them breaking thru the doors and plunging into the river.

Mei Ling wasted no time. She ran straight past Crane and dived in after them. She couldn't see much because of all the bubbles, and soon had to resurface. She took a breath and dived down again, Crane watching worriedly from the broken doors of the school.

Underwater, Mei Ling searched desperately for Master Shifu. She saw him at the bottom of the river, unmoving. The mountain cat swam down to him and grabbed Shifu's paw, pushing off the bottom and bursting from the surface. Shifu came up after her, coughing up water and gasping. Mei Ling swam to the bank on the other side of the river, hoisting herself and Shifu up onto the ground.

"Thanks." Shifu said after he caught his breath.

"Don't mention it." Mei Ling huffed. "Ever." Shifu chuckled. Crane flew over to them, his face etched with worry.

"You guys alright?" he asked worriedly.

"We're fine." Shifu assured. He stared into the river. "I guess we got it."

"Yeah." Mei Ling breathed. "Guess we did." She seemed worried. "You think something else will come?"

"Maybe." Crane shrugged. "You never know; maybe-"

The beast suddenly burst from the surface of the water, roaring with rage.

"What does it take to beat this thing?" Mei Ling snarled.

"We'll think about it later!" Crane urged. "Run to the forest!" The three warriors ran off, the beast close behind. The group sprinted farther into the forest, darting past trees and hoping it would slow the creature down, but the trees ended up flattened by the beast's paws.

"Do we even have a plan?" Shifu demanded.

"We'll think of a plan when we lose this thing!" Mei Ling snapped.

"No." Crane intervened. "This ends now." He suddenly stopped and turned to face the beast, who skidded to a halt in front of the bird. Shifu and Mei Ling stopped some yards away, watching with shock.

"You want the best warrior?" Crane demanded. "Well, here I am. Whatever your master wants, I'll do it. But leave them alone!"

"Crane, what are you doing?" Mei Ling shouted. "Run! Fly! Get away from it!"

The beast stood before Crane, a contemplating look on its face. Mei Ling charge forward, but Shifu stopped her.

"Don't intervene." Shifu warned. "We don't know what'll happen." He stared at his student. "Crane, be careful."

"I will." Crane promised.

The beast seemed to smile. It slowly started to transform, getting smaller and smaller, its form changing. Its mutant body became that of a beautiful caracal's. Her eyes were like a deep green forest. She wore a green strapless dress and a green shawl over her shoulders. The caracal was barefoot. She had a warm smile.

"You are the one." The caracal said.

"What do you want with me?" Crane asked warily.

"I need a favor." The caracal said. She pulled out a necklace from a hidden pocket in her dress. There was nothing special about it; it was a gold square with writing all over it on a chain. "I've had this since I was a little girl." The caracal explained. "I can't read the symbols on it."

"So?" Crane shrugged.

The caracal held out the necklace. "Read them to me."

Crane's jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me that you threatened my academy and tried to kill me, my friend, and my master, all because you wanted this thing translated?"

The caracal chuckled. "It was also a test; to see who really _was _the best warrior at Lee Da Kung Fu Academy. You see, only a great warrior would be kind and brave enough to take such a risk." The caracal turned to Shifu and Mei Ling. "The girl would've done the same, but she was blinded by anger. Your master would've done it as well, but he was not from your school."

Crane huffed. "Some test." He took the caracal's necklace and looked closely at the symbols. "It says, 'Sēnlín Jūzhù zhě'."

"Forest dweller." Shifu translated. The caracal sighed. "What's so important about that necklace?"

"This necklace had my name on it." The caracal/ Sēnlín said. "I've been longing to know my name for so long."

"Why couldn't you go to your parents?" Mei Ling asked. She and Shifu walked up next to Crane.

"My parents died when I was eight." Sēnlín sighed. "I've been living in the forest all this time." Sēnlín took her necklace and put it on, smiling. "Thank you for helping me. You are all great warriors." Sēnlín bowed to the masters before disappearing in a puff of smoke that smelled like tree bark.

For a long moment, there was silence.

"Well….." Mei Ling finally piped up. "That was fun."

The three cast glances at each other before laughing.

_STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR_

A week passed since the incident, and Crane received another letter from Mei Ling. This time, she addressed it to Crane and Shifu.

_Dear Crane and Shifu,_

_Everything is back to normal. Sēnlín is gone, most likely favoring other lands. The master and all the other students have returned, and life couldn't be better. I told them what happened, and the master seemed very ashamed, saying he had brought Sēnlín's wrath upon us. _

_Don't worry; I'm swaying him from these thoughts._

_Hope to hear from you soon!_

_Mei Ling_

_P.S. You're not going to believe this, but I think I saw Sēnlín in her beast form a few days back. I think she was heading to the Jade Palace. Keep an eye out for her! _

A/N: Well, that's it for this story. Don't worry, Sēnlín will be back. Sorry it was short. It was kind of a test story and I don't think I did too well. Now, I shall continue my _Friend or Prey? _story. Until then!


End file.
